Wrinkles

[DeadHandRed]

Hi All,

Just had my first casting session and have an issue with wrinkles. after some research, am i on the right track to think my mold wasnt hot enough?



im using a Lee 312-160-2R and 50-50 PB/WW.

i got the mold hot first (maybe not enough) and then i was casting at a good pace..

[stubshaft]

Yup, mold not hot enough. Alloy could use more heat also.

[DeadHandRed]

thanks stub, ill give it another go.

[357shooter]

+1, more heat in the alloy and the mould.

[Bret4207]

Cast faster, every second the mould is empty it's cooling. Get a good tempo going and cast till the boolits get a frosty look, then you can slow a little.

[Will]

could be oil min the mould

[songdog53]

Looks like not enough heat in mold or lead.

[MtGun44]

Dirty mold is possible, but even if the mold is perfectly clean, too cool metal and/or
mold will do exactly this. Like Bret says - FASTER!

Bill

[geargnasher]

Mould to cold and/or machining oil still in the metal pores. With 50/50 Pb/WW I'd say at least 725 degF pot temp would help the metal flow better, I like to cast with as cool a pot as possible to avoid the drossing and tin burnout the higher temps will generate, but in this case I'd say a bit higher than 650 (normal temps for straight WW) would be in order.

The main problem, though, is the mould is way too cold. Lee moulds really like 400 degrees. Cast at a rate of four pours a minute (time it!) until your boolits get a light frost on them like Bret said, then you can slack off to three pours a minute and that ought to maintain the temperature of the mould, but you'll have to get a "feel" for the right pace as you go. Keep looking at the boolits and if they start to get shiny speed up. The time it takes for the sprue to freeze is the main indicator I use for mould temp, I like to cut the sprue while it's still soft so I can do it with my gloved thumb rather than smacking it with a mallet, and as long as it's taking 4-6 seconds for the sprue to get "firm", I know the mould is hot enough.

Gear

[DeadHandRed]

Thanks all, a consensus on the mold too cool.

i cleaned the mold pretty good using iso then rubbed some beeswax/alox into the pins and around the sprue screw, then cleaned the cavities again with iso, then smoked it, so i will discount the oil at the moment.

have to work on my motion i guess, faster, faster. thanks again

[stubert]

pre-heat the mold on a hotplate on medium, don't let the coils get red.

[lwknight]

Be careful on lubing the mold that you don't get lube in such a way that it can migrate into the cavity. Smoking the mold is a waste of time. It may help for a few drops but you would have to re smoke it every few minutes to get anything out of it.
Best to just work the mold and not worry about smoking it.

[DeadHandRed]

Tried again tonight starting off with a much hotter mold. instantly i could see the difference with how it poured nicely through the sprueholes.



Much better.

Best to just work the mold and not worry about smoking it.

yeah i wondered about that. i think ill just see how it works without smoking.

Thanks to all

[Bret4207]

Good for you! You got it now. And yeah, forget smoking. It insulates the mould from heat, drops a smaller booilt, covers up the real issues.

[357shooter]

Very nice!

[MtGun44]

BINGO! Great looking casting. Hope the TL design works for you.

Stop using the beeswax or boolit lube on the mold alignment features, it burns into nasty
crud. Get some Bull Plate Lube from Bullshop - link at the bottom of the page, apply very
sparingly to bottom of sprue plate, top of mold blocks and alignment pins.

Bill

[geargnasher]

Be careful on lubing the mold that you don't get lube in such a way that it can migrate into the cavity. Smoking the mold is a waste of time. It may help for a few drops but you would have to re smoke it every few minutes to get anything out of it.
Best to just work the mold and not worry about smoking it.

Good for you! You got it now. And yeah, forget smoking. It insulates the mould from heat, drops a smaller booilt, covers up the real issues.

BINGO! Great looking casting. Hope the TL design works for you.

Stop using the beeswax or boolit lube on the mold alignment features, it burns into nasty
crud. Get some Bull Plate Lube from Bullshop - link at the bottom of the page, apply very
sparingly to bottom of sprue plate, top of mold blocks and alignment pins.

Bill

A huge +1 to all of the above, you couldn't buy better advice!

Looking good though, I wish any of the boolits I cast my first session looked nearly that good!

Gear

[DeadHandRed]

BINGO! Great looking casting.

Not ALL of them looked THAT good, i was just showing off the best

Hope the TL design works for you.

Heres a noob moment. First i got a 314299 block (casting for a M44) but needed some handles. so i had a quick read and found Lee handles could fit and were prefered by some.. then perusing on ebay i seen the price wasnt much different if i bought the whole 2 cav mold. picked the 160 grain vs 155 on a whim and now i have a TL which im thinking twice about and a 314299 with no handles. (have since ordered 6 cav Lee handles)

Stop using the beeswax or boolit lube on the mold alignment features, it burns into nasty crud. Get some Bull Plate Lube from Bullshop - link at the bottom of the page, apply very sparingly to bottom of sprue plate, top of mold blocks and alignment pins.

Wish i hadnt now. even after two sessions its looking pretty crappy. have enquired at bullshop about sending internationally.

A huge +1 to all of the above, you couldn't buy better advice!

Thanks to the community for all the input, ive been reading since october before finally pouring one.

Cheers,
Red